What ever happened to happily ever after?
by A Perfect Lie
Summary: Postfinal battle. Many are dead, and the memories of their failure still haunt Hermione. Hidden in the south of France, Severus plays 'Pretty Pretty Princess' with his daughter while Herm. remembers. Char Death


Disclaimer: Everything's borrowed.

A/N: Made a mistake, and accidentally deleted this. Oh well..was changing it anyway.

I made things flow better and fixed a few bugs that were annoying the hell outta me.

Happy, sad, it's got it all. Rather bittersweet really. Read...enjoy..all of that.

* * *

This wasn't happily ever after, but it would definately do.

Hermione smiled as she watched her daughter Alissa totter around the garden on her wobbly 18 month old legs, clutching her father's hand as if she would fall at any moment.

Her father of course, hovered over her attentively, telling her all the names of the flowers, even though she wouldn't understand. Though he insisted that she was nothing short of a prodigy, not to mention an adorable little angel.

Well, maybe those weren't his exact words.

They were more along the lines of "that other gorgeous, bossy know-it-all in my life."

But from Severus Snape, that was high praise.

Her smile widened as she watched her husband lean down to listen to some nonsensical babble from Alissa.

She sighed and slouched back into the bench she was currently sitting on. Why couldn't she just let herself enjoy this? Why can't she be happy?

_I am happy_. she told herself firmly, stiffening.

That nagging little voice argued "_No, you're not. And you know it too. You're so selfish feeling like this. You're letting their sacrifice go to waste by sitting here and moping_."

She shook her head, firmly dispelling the thoughts from her head. It did her no good to dwell on the past. That's exactly what it was, -the past-. And it could bloody well stay there.

But -_why_- did it insist on coming back to haunt her?

Was it because her two best friends had died for her?

Oh, no, it would be foolhardy to take all of the blame for their deaths. A few choice people could shoulder the blame as well as she could.

Except that they had no feeling, and if they did, they sure as hell didn't know guilt.

But none of that managed to change the fact that Harry Potter and Ron Weasley had died to save her life.

Well, not just mine, Hermione thought as she glanced at her daughter.

She was already pregnant with Alissa at the time, if not married to Severus. It was a surprise, at best. One she was infinately glad for.

Hermione ran a hand through her still-bushy hair, frowning deeply as she continued to remember the details of what had transpired.

Harry and Ron hadn't been pleased at all to hear of her pregnancy. Expecially when they found out who the father was. If only they could see him now though, Hermione thought wistfully, watching her daughter attempt to put a pair of pink, plastic, clip on earrings on Severus. He scowled at her, not that Alissa cared in the least, and Hermione was positive he was regretting buying her "Pretty, Pretty Princess." for her birthday.

If only, her mind started again, but she shook her head. Enough with the "if only"s! Harry and Ron were dead, and there was no way they could see what has happening now from 6 feet under.

Hermione winced, hurt by the harshness of her own thoughts. She wanted to go any have a good cry, but she didn't want Severus to worry. He was so concerned about her these days.

Couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that you've been completely withdrawn since the battle?

_I shouldn't have gone_. she concluded, tears welling up in her eyes.

The final battle. There was nothing final about it though, it hadn't been final for her. Voldemorte got away, and Dumbledore's forces were crushed. It had been a failure. A complete failure.

It was simple really. Or so she had thought at the time. It was only 14 months ago, why did she feel like she had aged a decade over that time? Anyway, The Order and many other supporters of the "light" as Dumbledore had taken to calling it, were to seige a revel and provide Harry with the chance to kill Voldemorte.

The battle has started out well. Hermione frowned. "Battle" and "well" were two words that should never be used in a sentence together. The light side was proficiently disabling the dark assailants. There, that was better.

That was, until the element of surprise had worn off. The Death Eaters had both the numbers and the lack of concience which led them to quickly take the upperhand in the battle.

She could still she the faces of her fallen comrades looking back at her with that blank, empty square. Tonks, Seamus Finnegan, Padma and Parvati Patil, Professor McGonagall. Arthur, George, Bill, Charlie and Ron Weasley. So many more.

All of them, dead. And she didn't do a damn thing about it.

There had to have been something more. Something more that could have been done to save all of them. Why didn't she think of it? She should have.

But no, she was too busy saving her own hide, and dragging others into it.

She had been cornered by no less than 6 Death Eaters, all of them intent on her death. It would have been easy work for them, if they hadn't had such bad aim and she hadn't been so good at dodging their spells.

Ron, just finishing off a duel with another Death Eater, saw her plight and rushed over, and in a fit of martyrdom, had lunged into the killing curse directed at her.

Not without taking 4 Death Eaters with him though. she thought wryly.

Then of course Harry couldn't stand by as one of his best friends died and the other was being outnumbered. He turned his back without thinking, and Voldemorte took his chance.

_You stupid git!_ Hermione thought angrily, a tear splashing down onto the pavement. She glanced up to see if anyone had noticed, but no, father and daughter were still playing Pretty, Pretty Princess, and Severus now had a lovely necklace to match his earrings. Though it was obvious that he didn't find anything lovely about it.

But it didn't matter to him. He was intent on spoiling his daughter, and if she wanted him, Severus Snape, to wear pink earrings and a equally pink necklace, then he was going to do it.

Hermione chastised herself for allowing herself to go through this, yet again. She needed to concentrate on the here, and now. She stood up from the bench, and went over to where her daughter and Severus were playing.

"Ooohh now doesn't Daddy look pretty?" Hermione teased, grinning at Severus. He threw her a look that clearly said 'I'll get you for this later' but softened at Alissa's enthusiatic nodding.

"Mummy!" Alissa said, holding out some green colored earrings to her.

Hermione looked at her suspiciously. "Did your father put you up to this?"

Severus put on a falsely-innocent look and said "If I'm wearing pink, you can wear green."

Hermione rolled her eyes and said "How about the red ones, can I wear the red ones instead?"

"No, green!" Alissa said cheerfully, pushing the earrings into her hands. Hermione sighed inwardly and put the earrings on, much to Alissa's, and Severus' delight and amusement.

It only took a few minutes to end the game, with Severus as the victor.

Hermione grabbed the tiara from the middle of the game and gave it to Alissa, who put it on her father's head.

Hermione stifled a giggle as she said "Daddy, you're definately the prettiest princess of them all!"

Alissa nodded, her head bobbing up and down, tossing her black locks about. "Hey you, you're supposed to be on my side." Severus said, reaching out and tickling Alissa, who squealed and giggled.

Hermione stood up, brushing some dirt off of the back of her pants, grinning pleasantly at the pair.

Then suddenly, she stopped, like a deer caught in the headlights, staring at something in the distance. Severus looked confused at her sudden change and said "Honey, what is it?" as he followed her line of sight.

They found them.

"Take Alissa and get into the house." Seveus said firmly.

Hermione nodded and scooped up Alissa. She caught Severus' eyes and he said "I love you." almost too resolutely.

She didn't bother to try and stop the tears. "I love you too."

"Go." Severus choked, turning from them as if it physically hurt him.

Hermione ran into the house, cradling Alissa to her chest. She went to the basement of their 3-story house, the most warded place there. And their house was heavily warded.

"Baby, you have to stay here." Hermione said, pushing her daughter into an empty cupboard in the lab.

"Mummy?" Alissa asked. The fear was evident in her eyes. And it hurt. It hurt Hermione to have to see it there.

They were supposed to be safe here. They left Britian after the battle and moved to southern France, without telling a soul. No one knew. They were supposed to be safe and able to raise their daughter together in peace. That didn't look likely anymore.

"I love you, baby, okay? Remember that. Always remember that." she said, pulling her daughter close and kissing the top of her head repeatedly.

With a sob, she closed the door and walked back up the stairs, going outside to join her husband.

Her husband wasn't the only one there.

"So the mudblood has finally graced us with her presence!" A hooded figure called. Hermione froze. She knew perfectly well who that voiced belonged to. Draco Malfoy.

Severus was on the ground clutching his stomach in pain. If she hadn't of heard his raspy attempt at breathing, she would have mistaken him for dead. It took her every bit of nerve and reasoning she possessed not to blindly rush over there to help him.

She warily glanced around her garden, counting 7 Death Eaters. A pair of invisible hands grabbed her from behind, covering her mouth and clutching around her waist. Correction. There were 7 Death Eaters that weren't invisible.

Hermione tried to scream, but the sound was muffled by the hand covering her mouth. She bit down hard on the invisible hand, and a surprised cry came out from behind her.

"Now, now. We can't be having any of that." The hooded figure said, eerily calm. It unnerved her how calm and emotionless he could be. It scared her.

"Crucio!" the figure cursed, pointing his wand at Hermione. She screamed bloody murder, and she wasn't the only one.

Hermione rolled over from her new position on the ground onto her back. She screamed again when she saw where the other exclamation had come from.

Alissa.

"Quiet!" a dull, low voice commanded. It came from the burly heap of robes holding her baby. But it wasn't directed at her.

Alissa was still screaming, bawling her eyes out. The man repeated his command and shook her, trying to get her to stop.

Hermione looked on helplessly, screaming, whimpering, pleading for the man to put her baby down. When she tried to get up, she was rewarded by another round of cruico.

"Be quiet!" the man yelled, shaking the baby roughly.

Too roughly. Alissa's head snapped back and to say that Hermione screamed would be a vast understatement. She didn't scream, she vocally embodied every possible emotion of pain, despair and hate.

"Oh well," the man said, dropping the baby onto the azaleas as if she were a broken toy.

Inhuman bastards was the only thought running through her head. Her brain seemed to have shut down. She felt them crucio and torture her over and over again, but after so much pain, and after losing so much, it didn't matter anymore.

It was long into the night now, and the Death Eaters had long left, not bothering to wait and see her die. Her husband and baby were dead, she wouldn't survive long.

"Severus." she said, crawling over to her husband's dead body.

"Please, Severus." she choked, shaking his chest slightly.

"Don't you dare. You're all I have." Hermione sobbed, her fingers frantically grasping the crisp material of his robes.

"All I have." The words stuttered out unbidden, the hopelessness of her plea evident in every syllable.

She shook him again and again until her strength wore out. She laid over his chest, her head resting above his still heart.

"Severus, where is my happy ending?" she said weakly, tears trailing down her cheeks. "Where is my happily ever after?"

Color faded, as her vision failed her. Her life was slowly leaving her. Far too slowly for her tastes.

Not that it mattered. Her heart had died long before it had ceased to beat.

* * *

A/N: God, do I feel terrible. Like some kind of evil-authoress-meanie. Grr. I prolly am.

Stupid plot bunnies. Sneaking up on me. This is all their fault you know. Yup.

I felt the need to do something a little different, and I'm fairly sure this hasn't been done before. And if it has, I'm sure they didn't include "Pretty, Pretty Princess."

Please Review! I'll give you a cookie if you do. (: :) chocolate chip!


End file.
